Impact of noise on bird richness and abundance in the arrayanes (Luma apiculata (DC) Burret) forest in Quetrihue peninsula, Argentina

Although it is true that ecotourism may contribute to the conservation of protected areas, its secondary impact on the environment is often neglected and specifically the impact of ecotourism on wildlife has been little studied. In the arrayanes forest (Luma apiculata (DC.) Burret) in Arrayanes National Park, Quetrihue peninsula, intense tourism occurs since 1971. Even though the National Park has an area of 1840 ha tourism is almost wholly concentrated within the approximately 20 ha of arrayanes forest on its southern tip. The forest of L. apiculata as a dominant species is so unusual as to turn it into a site of scientific interest. On the basis of these considerations we decided to study the impact of noise on birds in this site. We did not find significant relation between bird behaviour and noise, nor noise levels over regulations or which could generate harm to the hearing system of birds.Si bien es cierto que el ecoturismo puede contribuir a la conservación de las áreas protegidas, muchas veces se ha descuidado su impacto secundario sobre el medio ambiente, siendo el impacto del ecoturismo sobre la fauna un tema poco estudiado. En el bosque de arrayanes (Luma apiculata (DC.) Burret) localizado en el Parque Nacional Arrayanes, península de Quetrihue, se desarrolla una actividad turística intensiva desde 1971. Aunque el Parque Nacional tiene una superficie de 1840 ha, el objetivo casi exclusivo del turismo está comprendido dentro de las aproximadamente 20 ha del bosque de arrayanes situado en su extremo sur. La formación de L. apiculata como especie dominante es una particularidad que lo convierte en un sitio de interés científico. Sobre la base de estas consideraciones se decidió estudiar el impacto del ruido sobre las aves en este sitio. Las observaciones realizadas no permitieron hallar relaciones significativas entre la variación en el comportamiento de las aves y la generación de ruidos, ni se hallaron niveles de ruido que superen las normas legales en ambientes laborales, o que generen daños auditivos en las aves.Laboratorio de Investigación de Sistemas Ecológicos y Ambientale

SPOT-VEGETATION GEOV1 biophysical parameters in semi-arid agro-ecosystems

The VEGETATION system, which has been delivering global observations of the surface on a daily basis since 1998, provides key information for regional to global climate, environmental and natural resource management applications. Just recently, VEGETATION-derived GEOV1 biophysical products (LAI, FAPAR, and FCOVER) became available for the scientific community and were evaluated in this study for semi-arid forests in the Dry Chaco ecoregion, Argentina. Indirect validation with the MODIS-derived biophysical products (MOD15A2) shows a very good temporal consistency between both products for the period 2000-2011, with a remarkably smooth behaviour of the GEOV1 products. A good relationship between both products was found in the regression analysis with an R2 of 0.826 and 0.724 for LAI and FAPAR, respectively. Using direct validation with digital hemispherical photography (DHP) and ceptometer ground measurements, a relatively small RMSE (RMSELAI ≈ 0.31 and RMSEFAPAR ≈ 0.11) was found. The novel PASTIS-57 technique, which can derive continuous plant area index (PAI) estimates from light transmittance measurements, shows a similar temporal profile to the GEOV1 LAI product with a relatively high but constant offset for the dry forest study sites and a nearly identical profile for the deforested site (R2 = 0.86). Overall, PASTIS-57, in combination with satellite-based observations, shows potentials in LAI/PAI research and ecosystem carbon studies in general, but more ground measurements taken over multiple growing seasons and vegetation types are required to confirm these findings.Fil: Raymaekers, D.. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Francia. Vlaamse Instelling Voor Technologisch Onderzoek; BélgicaFil: Garcia, A.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Di Bella, Carlos Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Beget, María Eugenia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Llavallol, C.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Oricchio, P.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Straschnoy, J.. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Weiss, M.. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; FranciaFil: Baret, F.. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; Franci